CHAPTER 4: HYPOCRITES – PART 5
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was lenient with Ibn Salool until he started attacking his wife (the Prophet’s):
After they failed to create enmity amongst the believers on grounds of tribalism, the hypocrites plotted the story of the Ifk (slander) against the wife of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, after the battle of Banu Al-Mustaliq.
Ibn Salool was the one who took it upon himself to spread this fabricated story. Allah Says (what means): «Indeed, those who came with falsehood [false accusation incident-Ifk] are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you. For every person among them is what [punishment] he has earned from the sin, and he who took upon himself the greater portion thereof [i.e. ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ubayy, leader of the hypocrites], for him is a great punishment [i.e. Hellfire].» [Quran: 24:11]
He went around spreading this false accusation about ‘Aa’ishah (the wife of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and would gather other hypocrites at his house and plan how to spread it, and all of them went around Madinah spreading this rumor.
This eventually affected some of the believers who fell into the trap of the hypocrites and started speaking about this false accusation and repeating what the hypocrites were saying.
The matter escalated in magnitude to an extent that deeply hurt the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, so he mounted the pulpit and sought vindication against ‘Abdullaah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool, and said: “Who would support me to punish a person who has hurt by falsely slandering the reputation of my wife? I swear by Allah, I know nothing about my wife but good. He has also accused a person whom I know very well for his virtue, and he never entered my house except in my company.”
Sa’d ibn Mu’adh (a Companion) stood up and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I defend your honor against him. If he belongs to our tribe Al-Aws we would strike his neck, and if he belongs to the tribe of our brothers from the tribe of Al-Khazraj then order us, and we would comply with your order.’
Sa’d ibn ‘Ubaadah was one of the chiefs of the tribe of Al-Khazraj, and he was a pious man, but his tribalism and enthusiasm overcame him and he said to Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, ‘You are lying, I swear by Allah you will not kill him and you will not be able to kill him!’
Usayd ibn Hudhayr, who was the cousin of Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, stood up and said to Sa’d ibn ‘Ubaadah, ‘You are lying! I swear by Allah we will kill him and you are nothing but a hypocrite who defends hypocrites.’
The two tribes of Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj became so angry, until they were about to fight each other. The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remained standing on the pulpit and tried to subside their anger until they became silent.(Reported by Al-Bukhari (2661) Muslim (2770).)
The hypocrites were trying to plant the seed of sedition within the Muslim community and shake it from within to unsettle it. They did this by trying to convince some of the Muslims to abandon Jihad at times, like they did in the expedition of Uhud when they went back taking one-third of the army. Other times they triggered fanaticism, like they did in the expedition of Banu Al-Mustaliq. Another way to engender tribulations was
by distorting the image of pious believers, like their heinous fabricated slander against ‘Aa’ishah, the pure and the chaste.
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, faced all this with wisdom, tolerance and calmness. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forgave many of their evil actions in the hope that they would come to their senses and truly accept Islam and adhere to the path of the truth.
When he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prepared for the expedition of Tabuk many of them took permission not to go along:
This was during the month of Rajab (the seventh month in the lunar calendar) in the ninth year A.H. and people were facing a difficult time preparing for this expedition. The circumstances were hard; it was a year of drought and the meager harvest they had was beginning to ripen, and people usually like to be around at such a time and attend to reaping the harvest.
Many of the hypocrites went to him, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, taking permission not to go with him on the expedition giving him poor excuses, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, accepted their excuses and permitted them not to join the Muslim army. Amongst those who sought permission were ‘Abdullaah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool and Al-Jadd ibn Qays.
Some of the hypocrites started telling others, ‘Do not go and fight in this hot weather.’ However, Allah exposed their reality in the Quran and admonished the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, for allowing them not to go and accepting their excuses. Allah Says (what means): «Those who remained behind rejoiced in their staying [at home] after [the departure of] the Messenger of Allah and disliked to strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah and said: ‘Do not go forth in the heat.’ Say, ‘The fire of Hell is more intense in heat’, if they would but understand. So let them laugh a little and [then] weep much as recompense for what they used to earn.» [Quran: 9:81-82]
Allah The Almighty also Says (what means): «Had it been a near [i.e. easy] gain and a moderate trip, they [i.e. the hypocrites] would have followed you, but distant to them was the journey. And they will swear by Allah [when you return from the Tabuk expedition], ‘If we were able, we would have gone forth with you,’ destroying themselves [through false oaths], and Allah knows that indeed they are liars.» [Quran: 9:42]
The hypocrites who joined the battle conspired to kill him, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, on the way back from this expedition:
There were fifteen hypocrites who actually joined the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, on this expedition. They planned to push him from his camel into a cliff as he rode by night over the Al-’Aqabah, a narrow passage on a steep mountain, through which only one man could pass if he was to travel at night through it. However, Allah protected him, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, from these hypocrites.
Abu Tufayl (a Companion) said:
“When the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was on his way back from the expedition of Tabuk, he commanded one person to call aloud: ‘The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is taking the passage through this mountain, so no one should take it.’
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was on his animal with Huthayfah (one of his Companions) leading the animal from behind and ‘Ammaar ibn Yaasir (a Companion) holding the reins and leading it from the front.
Suddenly, a group of men with masked faces appeared on camels, standing ahead of ‘Ammaar while he was leading the Prophet’s camel. Immediately an alarm was raised and ‘Ammaar started hitting the faces of their camels and pursued the masked men, but they took to their heels. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to Huthayfah (a Companion): “Enough, enough.”
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came down from the passage, and by then ‘Ammaar had returned so the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to him: “Did you recognize these people?” ‘Ammaar replied: ‘I recognized their animals, but the men were masked.’
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to ‘Ammaar: “Do you know what these people were intending to do?” ‘Ammaar replied: ‘Allah and His messenger know best.’
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “They wanted to push the Messenger of Allah and kill him.”
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, accepted the excuse of three of them who swore by Allah they did not hear the person who called aloud warning against taking the same passage, and that they were not aware of the intention of the rest of the group.
‘Ammaar said: ‘I bear witness that these twelve will continue to be at war with Allah and His Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in this life and remain hypocrites, and on the Day of Resurrection will face the consequence of their hypocrisy. It was then that Allah revealed His Saying (which means): «And [they] planned that which they were not to attain [i.e. the murder of Prophet Muhammad].» [Quran: 9:74]” (Reported by Ahmad (23280). The story is originally reported summarized by Muslim (2779).)
The hypocrites mocked the believers during the battle of Tabook:
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar (a Companion) narrated:
“A man said during the battle of Tabook while people were gathered one day, ‘There is no one like those who memorize the Quran amongst us; when it comes to food, they eat the most (and have no concern for anything more than food); when it comes to honesty, they are the ones who lie the most; and when it comes to fighting, they are the biggest cowards.’
A man in the gathering replied to him, ‘You are lying, you are a hypocrite, and I shall inform the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, of what you said.’ The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was then informed of what this man said and Allah revealed the Quran (about hypocrites).
I saw that man holding on to the rope(It is a rope which goes around the stomach of the camel.) of the camel of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and was saying to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we were only conversing and playing (and passing time).’
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, kept repeating the saying of Allah (which means): «Say, ‘Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?’» [Quran: 9:65]” (Reported by At-Tabari in his book Tafseer At-Tabari (16912).)
Allah Says (what means): «And if you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only conversing and playing.’ Say, ‘Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?’ Make no excuse; you have disbelieved [i.e. rejected faith] after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you, We will punish another faction because they were criminals.» [Quran: 9:65-66]
Mocking Islam is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Likewise, mocking the Quran and its verses takes the person out of the fold of Islam, because religion is established on glorifying Allah, His religion and His messengers. Therefore, mocking any of these negates this principle and opposes it very strongly.
For this reason, when they came apologizing to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, about their statement, the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not say anything other than repeating the saying of Allah (which means): «Say, “Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking? Make no excuse; you have disbelieved [i.e. rejected faith] after your belief.» [Quran: 9:65-66]
Someone might say, ‘The story did not mention any mockery of Islam, they only mocked people.’
The answer to which is that they did not mock them as people or tribes, but rather they mocked them because of their religion, because they said: ‘There is no one like those who memorize the Quran amongst us.’
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.